Chapter 10
Christian
and Diana hardly moved during the night.
Diana awoke in the same position she fell asleep in, with Christian's
arms wrapped around her and with her head and hand on his chest. She was so relaxed just listening to the
sound of his breathing as he slept.
Diana so wanted to just stay there forever but she knew she couldn't, at
least not today. She hated to this but
she reluctantly left his bed. Diana
managed to slide herself out of Christian's grasp. She was forced to do it slowly so she wouldn't wake him. Christian stirred slightly but simply rolled
over and fell back into deep sleep.
Diana
went into the bathroom and lounged in a long, hot bath. She still didn't want to leave this state of
fulfillment. "Damn it, Diana! You have to snap back into reality already!"
she thought to herself. "Or not. The Moulin Rouge is a place of fantasies.
Why not have my own fun?" Diana was
creating… or plotting for a better word… her plans for tonight. She had only one thing to really work out…
getting Christian to cooperate.
As
she got dressed, thousands of ideas made chaos in her mind. She couldn't decide between several schemes
until one hit her like a bolt of lightning.
"I'll make it a surprise. I just
hope I don't scare the hell out of him."
Diana couldn't help but laugh to herself.
She
walked back into the bedroom where Christian was still asleep. He looked so sweet and peaceful and she
hated to wake him up, especially since how horrible he's felt lately, but she
had to tell him she had to go to work.
Diana sat down on the bed very close to her sleeping love.
"Christian,
wake up my love." She whispered in his ear as she stroked his hair. Christian stirred slightly but really didn't
wake up until she kissed him. He opened
his eyes and smiled at her. He rather
liked being woken up like this instead of nightmares and sick feelings in his
stomach.
"I
have to prepare for tonight darling. I
have to go back to the Moulin Rouge."
Diana saw Christian's expression change; he wasn't happy about this.
"Why
now?" Christian asked as he struggled to sit up.
"I
have a surprise for you tonight and I need time to set it up."
Christian
agreed reluctantly. He didn't want to
have to give her up so early in the day.
"Be
at the Moulin Rouge tonight at 8. I
love you." Diana said as she kissed him goodbye and left.
Christian
was now alone again in his apartment.
As he sat in bed, halfway between asleep and awake, his mind started to
wander. He thought about the previous
night, Diana, writing, and Satine. One
thing really stuck in his mind though, he and Diana didn't have to hide. He could stand atop the Eiffel Tower and
proclaim his love for her to the world if he so chose. But Satine kept jumping back into his
thoughts. Christian knew he would never
give up even one moment that he spent with Satine, but they always had to
hide. Everything was secret. The Argentinean's words kept ringing in his
head – "Never fall in love with a woman who sells herself."
But
why should he give up the chance to live and love again? Should he live alone for the rest of his
life with only memories? Diana was
different. She wasn't a courtesan. No one owned her. She was free to do whatever she chose. She moved on to love again when her heart was broken by
tragedy. Why couldn't he?
"NO! I'm not going to drive myself mad over
this. Satine will always have a place in
my heart but Diana is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with."
Christian thought aloud.
For
the first time in a long while, since Satine died, Christian felt ready to face
the world again. He got himself up and
dressed and walked out onto the streets of Montmartre. The first thing that caught his eye was a
flower stand. He bought a dozen of
their reddest roses for Diana, for tonight.
He then had to venture into Paris, for Montmartre didn't have what he
was looking for. He returned to his
apartment a few hours later and started to work.
Toulouse,
recovering from yet another absinthe-induced hangover, awoke in the late
morning hours to an incessant tapping.
He thought it sounded like the typewriter keys but assumed it was
impossible; Christian didn't want to write now. Toulouse peered into Christian's room to see him hard at work,
his fingers flying over the keys. To
Toulouse, this didn't seem like the same man who has been around for the past
weeks. This was the Christian he knew before;
the one who was so inspired to write Spectacular, Spectacular.
"Chwistian,
what are you doing?"
"I'm
writing a new play for the Moulin Rouge.
Diana mentioned she wanted one."
"She
inspiwred you that much?"
"I
got about a million ideas at once and I had to get them down."
"What's
it about?"
"A
gypsy."
Toulouse
got very excited at this notion. He
wanted to get to work on rehearsals right away.
"You
have to wait Toulouse. Diana gets it
first."
Toulouse
retreated back into his attic; wondering about this new show and listening to
Christian continuously tap away on the keys.